The Heart Of Texas

I want to feed my family the most nutritious food possible, without sacrificing anything! So, in my research of the most basic of foods. Bread and flours are the foundation. After reading many statistics on the nutritional value of breads, I could not believe it. All grains lose a significant percentage of their vitamins and minerals just hours after the milling process. I then began to research the best wheat berry for the most nutritional value. Organic hard winter wheat berries are the best in southeast Texas. Every one of the grains is a work of art. It is very easy to recognize they are packed with vitamins and minerals. I now buy organic hard winter wheat berries and mill the wheat berries and immediately begin to turn them into bread. This bread is as down to earth as it gets. It does not get any fresher. My family has greatly benefited from the super-nutritional value of the ultra-fresh flour and all wholesome ingredients! The final outcome is delicious! ...

Texas Chili from scratch! Through the years many well meaning folks have tried their level best to define Texas Chili. During the heyday of chili cooking competitions, CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) required contestants to create a stew of meat and gravy only. Fillers would disqualify you. Some so called purist would be outright mean about the whole bean and chili debate. Those same folks would be the first to open a can of tomato paste or tear into a pre-packaged commercial chili powder. I mean if you are going to claim to know Texas chili then you should know about chili peppers! Right? To this Texan, chili is a stew with a hearty meat and gravy. If you actually read the labels of some of the most popular brands of commercial chili powder they do not even mention the type of chili peppers in the pre-packaged mix. Most of the pre-packaged chili powders have loads of salt and most have MSG and anti-caking agents like sodium aluminosilic...

Beef Stock 4 grass fed beef shanks about 3” thick (beautiful) 2 large yellow onions 6 medium carrots 6 stalks celery 6 large fresh shallots ½ bunch fresh cilantro 8 chipotle peppers 1 tbs sea salt 2 tbs fresh cracked peppercorns 2 tbs coriander 2 whole bulbs fresh garlic Put 2 gallons of water in a pot add ingredients (I rough chop everything) bring to a boil then immediately shut fire down to a very slow simmer for 22 hours. Stir every couple hours, then shut off heat let cool for a short while, strain (I strain 2 times), let cool all the way, then I render the fat.

The girls wanted homemade pizza for dinner so I got right after the preparation of the dough. I like it to rise twice and then again in the refrigerator. Then 2 hours prior to cooking I like it to rest at room temperature. I have been experimenting with many different flours. Napoli 000 is extremely good, but the high-gluten Baker's Flour from Central Market works great. Recently I bought some finely ground cornmeal. I mixed in about 1/4 cup at the beginning and then worked another 1/4 during the proofing process. Giving the yeast some time to activate in the warm water is very important. The chemical process of the yeast working on the flour is a glorious thing. Adding honey also changes the chemical process. The honey has a positive reaction with the yeast. It seems to accelerate the effects. Sorry, I went off on a tangent. Using the same recipe as my previous pizza, I made a special one for my lovely. I cooked and drained 1 pound of Italian sausage. I bought fre...

I decided to make a turkey pot pie for the family this evening. I wanted to get away from shortening so I tried organic butter. The crust was fantastic. It goes like this: 3 cups baker's flour 1 cup Kerrigold's unsalted butter 2 t sea salt 1/2 cup ice water That's it! The filling was the following: 1 large sweet yellow onion 5 carrots chopped 6 stalks celery chopped 2 cups turkey meat chopped 1 cup turkey stock 1 TBS corn starch 1 TBS cracked peppercorn just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet Enjoy the pictures!

2 lbs certified organic 85/15 ground sirloin 5 fresh organic carrots grated 3 fresh organic celery stalks fine chop 1 organic yellow onion fine chop ½ tbs granulated garlic ½ tbs fresh basil 4 slices of Ezekiel bread crumbled 4 organic extra-large eggs 1 cup organic ketchup 1 tbs fresh cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns 1 tbs Bragg’s liquid aminos – this is where the sodium is achieved My kids love to eat this and it is great food. Now, if I could only get all of them to like brown rice! Enjoy

I dusted the strips with granulated garlic and then added fresh cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns and sea salt. Then I rubbed in a little Colavita Fruttato extra-virgin olive oil into the strips. I then cooked them very fast over a hot fire. They were delicious. Enjoy the pictures.